Here at PEZ, we don’t normally get too involved in the machinations of daily bike advocacy. We of course support all efforts and directives to make the road a safer place to ride, but sometimes something pops up that is so foul, so disgusting, that it needs to be spoken about, and actions called for.

In a world where money is in short supply, it's encouraging that there are so many pro cyclists in the UK. Or is it? Sponsor of Team Velo Ecosse, a long established UK amateur team thinks that there's a lot of self delusion going on."

There’s nothing like a bone of contention – no matter what size – to inspire emails from the valiant PEZ-Fandom. And that’s just what Mike Schatzman’s comment on Astana’s participation at Gila did, although we took cover under the veritable barrage of digitized dialogue. Here’s just a sampling of what readers said…

It seems that over the past few years the biggest stars in Cycling have come under scrutiny for doping… While that's certainly proving itself out, the larger problem for the sport may just be that doping is now the celebrity.

It’s not uncommon that our editorials strike a note with many readers, but in the case of our recent comment on the ASO and the UCI’s less than acceptable running of the sport and it’s major properties, we appear to have struck a "crank it up to 11, power up the wall of Marshalls, and fasten your seatbelts power chord" of response from cycling fans across the land.

Fact: States in the US which have the death penalty do not have lower homicide rates than those which do not practice capital punishment. It's proof the 'big stick' does not work. If forfeiting one's life does not deter an individual from committing serious crime, what chance does the threat of a suspension have of preventing riders from cheating?

Why is it that every year, just before and just after Milan San Remo, we hear from lots of people (almost never sprinters) that Milan-San Remo needs changing? MSR isn’t too easy. MSR doesn’t need more Cote’s or Bergs or a new “Muur de San Remo”. Instead, the guys calling for a harder race just need sprinters’ legs.

The Grand Tour organizers have thrown it up to the UCI in a big way by stating they’ll decide who gets invited to their races – not the UCI. In December, the French ASO, Italian RCS, and Spanish UniPublic released a statement announcing their new selection criteria for the races they control - which happen to be the biggest and best on the calendar. Here’s our take on the pros & cons of this ‘new’ system…

I’ve been trying to come up with a PEZ-worthy comment on the whole dope/Puerto/Floyd mess, but with the number of impassioned emails that are landing each day, it seems PEZ Readers have already got it covered…

Do you ride with Lance Armstrong? Why aren’t you on the Discovery Team? When are you going to win a race? Have you ever stared down the barrel of these questions by your friends or co-workers, not really knowing if you should answer seriously or sarcastically? Since I began bike commuting to my school this year I’ve found myself in this situation more than ever...